If You Love Stranger Things, Then You’ll Love This Video Game

Stranger Things is a supernatural show on Netflix about a tight-knit group of friends growing up in the 80s, but there’s much more to it. The plot surrounds the disappearance of one of the boys, as well as a new girl that changes everything. For many fans, reaching the last episode of the season can be tortuous. However, there’s a video game you’ll love if you’re in this position.

Oxenfree is a supernatural adventure game where you play as a teenage girl named Alex who takes a weekend trip to a local island with her friends and new stepbrother. Mysterious events and time loops occur, and they all must uncover the secrets of the island. If you just binge-watched Stranger Things, then Oxenfree is the perfect game to play to satisfy your craving for a thrilling, otherworldly adventure.

Here are 7 themes shared across the show and the game that are sure to keep you hooked:

Warning: minor spoilers below.

1. Other worlds

Stranger Things: The Upside Down is an inversion of our reality and is a place crawling with monsters, darkness, and chaos.

Oxenfree: The island itself and the cave that the teens discover are a seemingly alternate reality but are still connected to the “real world.” Moreover, Alex and her friends are repeatedly stuck in time loops that make them question if certain events really did occur.

2. An outsider

Stranger Things: Eleven is on the outside of her own family. Later on, when she shows up, it disrupts the dynamic of the group of boys.

Oxenfree: Jonah is Alex’s stepbrother and needs to be introduced to her friends. Additionally, they themselves need time to bond more as a family.

3. The missing

Stranger Things: At the beginning of the series, Will is abducted and taken to the Upside Down — a place where no one knows how to get to or what it actually is. He is the boy on the missing flyers and is separated from the rest of the group for most of the first season.

Oxenfree: Michael is Alex’s brother who dies, but like Will in the TV series, isn’t totally gone. In the game, he can possibly be found and brought back to the world of the living.

4. Supernatural occurrences

Stranger Things: The Mind Flayers are supernatural beings who have control over the Upside Down and can infiltrate the real world as well. They have their hands in everything and take control like a puppet master. They can enact possessions, kidnap people to their world, and travel through tunnels beneath the town.

Oxenfree: Members of the group are possessed and even die, but then time loops again and a different event occurs. The loops control the characters, forcing them to relive a terrifying moment again and again. This is just like how the Mind Flayer puppets and controls the kids in Stranger Things.

5. Being trapped

Stranger Things: Will can’t move on from the flashbacks. The Mind Flayer literally takes control of his mind and traps him in a feverish body.

Oxenfree: On the island, even if everyone is saved, you are brought back to the beginning of the game. Consequently, you are trapped and can’t escape unless you can stop the time loop.

6. 80s music and technology

Stranger Things: The show is set in the 80s and has the same nostalgic feel. It shows the freedom of kids riding bikes and going off on their own adventures. The show is also filled with 80s hit songs, radios, and boomboxes. They also all use walkie talkies to communicate with each other at far distances.

Oxenfree: The game is full of 80s music instrumentals and has that kind of time period vibe. The use of frequencies will remind you of Eleven delving into the TV frequency and using her powers. Alex also uses her radio to create power and wield it to help save everyone. They use walkie talkies at the tower to communicate as well.

7. Mirrors

Stranger Things: The Upside Down is a mirror of the real world. All of the world above is in the world below but it is distorted, dark, eerie, and mysterious.

Oxenfree: In the game, mirrors are a constant theme and connect to other worlds. They are also a way to communicate with and view the dead.

These are just a few of the many similarities between Stranger Things and Oxenfree. If you’re a fan of Eleven and the gang, you should definitely try the game. If you already play Oxenfree and haven’t seen Stranger Things, then start binge-watching now — a new season will be coming soon!